Pushed to the edge
by Eliza Greener
Summary: Sarah was born 4 years before her sister Isabelle. But because of Cloister law she was not eligible to become queen since she was born out of wedlock, but that was no concern of hers. Romantic story between OC and Elmont. Set during and after the movie. Please review :). ElmontXoc
1. Chapter 1

**Comments are deeply appreciated :).**

**Just to clarify English is not my first language. I really don't think my English is all that bad but if there's anything wrong with my grammar, please send a quick message.**

Sarah's POV

The sound of a knock on the door woke me up.

'Milady? Are you awake? It's Princess Isabelle, she's gone, do you have any idea where she is?' One of the maids called from outside.

Half-awake I walked up to the doorway to see what was going on.

'What do you mean, gone?'

'She hasn't been seen since last night and she isn't in her room. She's got the king quite worried.'

right after that the captain of the kings guard walks into the corridor.

'Milady. Word has come from outside city walls. A boy was found with your sisters bracelet and behind him a giant beanstalk has emerged. We're leaving to go see what's going on in ten minutes.'

'I will go and get dressed as soon as possible, thank you.'

Elmont looked very fine today, but this was no time to notice that. Sister has got herself into trouble once more and as her big sister it was my duty to help her.

'Could you help me get dressed.' I asked.

'I really don't think that's appropriate.' Elmont replied with his cheeks turning red

I myself was put on the spot with that reaction. I couldn't help myself from trembling a bit, for this question wasn't directed at him but the maid.

'Yes, I know.' I muttered 'That's why I was asking Ella, the maid.'

'I, I beg your pardon milady, of course, you asked Ella, I was only, uhm, only joking,… yes it was a joke.' He stuttered, while his whole face turned red. 'I have to go now, the king awaits.'

Elmont wasn't easily distracted from his tasks, but he looked very flustered and confused as he walked off.

'Ella, could you please fetch me my armor?' I asked as I closed the door and prepared for everything.

Ten minutes later I stood downstairs where the kings guard was getting ready to leave. Father looked worried and kept pacing. As I walked up to him I saw Elmont who was very clearly trying to avoid having eye contact. To be honest this morning was very embarrassing, so I started doing the same.

'Father, calm down, we'll find her.' I said as I stood by my father.

Trying to pull himself together he said 'I know ducky but I just,… I'm just….' He looked like he was going to burst into tears any moment now. Father really wasn't the same since mother died. All he wanted to do was keep his girls safe and with Isabelle running off time after time this was no easy task.

'I know father. It'll be all right. I'm going to get my horse ready.'

As I walked off I started sharing my father's fears. I loved my sister with all my heart but sometimes she could be so reckless.

When I came to my horse he was already prepared with Elmont standing next to him.

'I took the liberty off preparing your horse. Again I'm so sorry for the misunderstanding this morning, to be honest I wasn't really awake yet, so that's why I said what I said.' Elmont said

'It's fine, don't worry. As long as you're awake now.' I responded.

'I, I am. Clear as day.'

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	2. Chapter 2

As we rode of into the fields around Cloister I saw the giant beanstalk that had emerged behind the trees. I couldn't help but gasp and just begin to feel a bit sick to my stomach as I started realizing how big the situation actually was. Nothing about this was right. We rode further towards the beanstalk and saw the boy lying in front of it. Father and some of the other men went up to the boy with the bracelet. They had their little discussion and after Jack voluntered to go up with the other men I also felt the need to step forward.

'I will go too.' I exclaimed

'Like hell you are' Father replied

'But father, I want to help. She's my little sister, I need to help her! If I were a prince you would have ordered me to go up there this instant. And to be honest I do think I've had a little bit more training then some of the newbies within the king's guard.' I said. I saw some of the new men look a little bit discouraged. 'Sorry.' I said 'But it's true.' I thought to myself

'You are not going up there. I'm not even going to have this discussion. I won't have it.'

I knew it was wise to shut up before he had me escorted back to the castle. When all the other men were getting ready to climb up I went up to Elmont.

'Elmont?'

'Milady, how can I be off service.'

'Can you talk to father for me. He's being unreasonable and totally unfair.'

'Milady, I'm sorry but I do share your father's concerns. This is a dangerous mission.'

'I know that, don't you think I know that. But she's my little sister and I must help her. I meant what I said, I've had more training than some of the men you are taking with you. You know that, you're the one who trained me in most off my skills. You know I'm an asset to your team.'

'I just don't want you to get hurt, I mean your father, your father doesn't want you to get hurt.' He replied.

Well if all other methods fail it's time to use 'the' method, it usually worked when wanting something from Elmont. I put my hand on his chest and looked at him with the biggest puppy dog eyes I could possibly conjure up.

'Please Elmont, please. Go talk to him, he'll listen to you, he trusts you. I swear to god I will be safe and I will be of great use within this mission. You can't just leave me here to do nothing, please.'

With a slight shrug he walked off to father. After just hearing fragments of my father saying 'NO' and 'Hell no' I went to stand closer by and listen in on the conversation.

'I will not lose another daughter to that thing' Father said.

'But she's right. I'm the one who trained her and she's an excellent sword fighter and an even better climber. And I promise you I will bring her back safe. I give you my word'

'Look if you can promise me she'll return safely with no harm done, I'll allow her to go up and help her sister. But if anything were to happen, don't you even bother coming down, now go.'

I saw a slight fear in Elmont's eyes as he turned away from father, but he quickly composed himself and came walking over to me. I almost regretted asking him to do this, but I had to. I had to go up and help her. For god's sake if I were a man I would have ordered immediately to run up that bloody thing.

'I talked to your father and he's allowing you to go up. But please tell me if there's a way off talking you out of this.' Elmont said to me. For me this 'being allowed to go up' was an accomplishment but not for Elmont, for Elmont this was almost defeat.

'There really isn't Elmont. I'm so sorry. I'll go and get ready.' I replied and walked off.

I got myself ready with some help from Crawe and we went climbing up. First Elmont, then me, then the others. This was going to be a very long climb up.

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	3. Chapter 3

We we're about half way up the giant beanstalk when our current stalk ended. We needed to get across and I wasn't exactly sure how. Soon enough Elmont pulled out his crossbow to get a line across to the other side.

'Milady?' Elmont called me over.

'Yes Elmont?' I replied

'Hold on tight. I'll haul you across.'

'Excuse me. I'll get to the other side on my own merits, thank you very much.'

'With what?' He said and then I noticed I had nothing to throw over the rope to glide down with.

'I don't know exactly, but there must be something.'

'Milady this is going to be a very long journey if you keep being so damn stubborn. You're father asked me to keep you safe so that's what I'll do. Now hold on tight.' Elmont looked quite mad when he said that and I realized I shouldn't disobey him any further.

'Fine.' I grasped my arms over his shoulders and held on as tightly as I possibly could. To be honest I was quite fine with the situation as it now was because I don't know what would have happened if I went down alone.

The line felt like it was going on forever while in fact it might have only been a few seconds. It felt like an eternity, I was so scared. I held onto Elmont even tighter along the way. All he did was smile, he actually got me to do what he told me to do, which didn't happen that often.

I felt the beanstalk under my feet but still couldn't let go of Elmont. My fear levels were still of the charts.

'We're here.' Elmont said

'Thank you.' I whispered, and then I realized I wasn't the only one holding on. I realized Elmont put one arm around me after we landed. My fairs were quickly subsiding and my grasp had come down from 'holding on for dear life' to 'embrace'.

I have to admit I was enjoying the moment quite a bit. It wasn't just the fear off the abyss but also the fears of Isabelle's safety and getting home safely myself were disappearing. I always felt safe around Elmont but this was exceptional. I wanted it to go on forever. At that moment Crawe called from the other side.

'Are you two all right.' He called, because of the cloud we were in the midst off he couldn't really see us, but we both quickly pulled away from each other as we were both reminded of the real world around us.

'Yes, we're fine.' Elmont called back 'come on down.'

We went on climbing into the night.

* * *

It was getting dark and you couldn't see any further then your own hands so we stopped to get some sleep. After losing five men due to bad weather and a snapped rope we all needed to get some rest.

I was so cold that night, but I didn't want anyone to notice. Everyone had endured enough tonight and didn't need their precious princess complaining about how cold she was. But damn I was cold. I must have been shivering more than I realized when Elmont looked over to me.

'Are you all right?' He asked me

'I'm f f fine ' I answered him

'No you're not, you're freezing.'

'Only slightly.'

'Now stop that.' He came over to me and sat next to me. He put his arm around my waist and I buried my head into his shoulder.

'What about you, are you all right?' I asked him.

'I don't know' He answered as he kissed me on the top of my head.

I felt myself getting warmer and felt my eyelids getting heavier and heavier. I closed my eyes and quickly fell asleep.

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	4. Chapter 4

When I awoke from my slumber the sun was already shining bright. Being so far up it must have only been dark a couple of hours. I woke up a couple times during the night with night terrors, but each time I looked up to see Elmont sitting next to me and I wasn't all that scared anymore. I must admit I started having doubts about coming up here during the night, but that might just have been the dark and the half asleepness talking.

Elmont was no longer by my side when I awakened. Jack and Crawe were gone as well. As I looked up I saw them standing a little higher. I stood up and climbed up to them. There it was Gantua, I couldn't believe my eyes. The whole thing was just floating in the air.

'Good morning Princess, I hope you slept well.' Elmont asked

'Not at all, but thank you.' I answered him

Crawe climbed up to the house but could find no sign of her. We went further up and onto the floating island.

'Well, she's not in the house. This is the only other place she could have gone. If she climbed down we would have seen her' Crawe said

'She didn't climb down she climbed up.' Elmont said

We climbed further up and out of the cave. Elmont reached out for me to hold his hand as I climbed up. I ignored it and climbed further up on my own. It was a nice gesture, really, but it didn't make me feel useful at all. I mean if I can't even climb up a little ledge on my own why did I even bother to come with. Elmont looked surprised but quickly looked the other way. We went on to find carvings in the trees made by my sister. As we found her last one half finished Jack found broken branches indicating that something took her, something big. We had no indication whatsoever in knowing which way it took her so Elmont decided to split us up. I went with Elmont, Crawe and Jack. We went on to walk for what seemed like hours.

As we were walking across the fields I walked up to Elmont.

'Elmont?'

'Yes milady.'

'I'm sorry, for, for this morning, in the cave, I mean. I just want you to know that I deeply appreciate your help, but I need to do some things on my own. I mean it's not like you're helping Crawe climb up'

'No I understand. I know you don't always need my help, but that doesn't stop me from offering it every once in a while.' He smiled as he quickly walked up. 'Anyone hungry?'

I climbed up to see a herd of sheep walking around a little lake. We went round the lake to herd them into a corner. But a trap was already set to catch the sheep and Jack or Crawe must have set it off because before I knew it they were trapped in a net above the lake. I grabbed my sword to cut through the rope but it was to thick. Jack was cutting through the rope and got it to snap. Crawe fell out into the water but Jack was still stuck. The birds quickly flew off as if they were frightened by something and so did the sheep. Something was coming, something with what sounded like very heavy footsteps.

'Jack, get out now.' I heard Crawe say as Jack also fell out of the net.

'Princess get down.' Elmont called to me. But I couldn't I stood upon that big boulder and was just paralyzed. I couldn't move.

'Sarah!' I felt Elmont's arm around my waist as he pulled me down towards him. I felt so stupid, here I was again the defenseless princess. I couldn't do anything right.

'Be very quiet' he whispered. He looked past the boulder to see something very big coming towards us. Elmont pushed me further into the gap between the boulder and the wall. It took the sheep from the lake and after that it went after Crawe. It just picked him up like it was nothing.

'Stay here.' Elmont whispered.

I wanted to reply, but no words came out of me, I could barely even move.

Honest to god I am an excellent sword fighter, but with no experience whatsoever I was just so scared that I couldn't do anything at that moment.

Elmont ran up to him and stabbed him in the foot but it was of no use. It took the both of them and walked off.

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**Ps: I'm sorry it takes me so long to update, but I am currently on holiday in France.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry it took me so long to update. For those interested, France was amazing.  
Thanks to everyone that reviewed my previous chapters, I love them all. It's very nice to have that sort of encouragement to keep me writing, so thanks to you all. And thanks to everyone in general that is still reading this story, I also love you silent readers.**

Jack came out of the lake and signaled to me. I felt I could move my muscles again and ran up to him.

'Let's go' I said as we ran after them.

We ran as fast as we could, but that giant was way ahead of us, his steps were with ease 10 meters each. We ran and ran and I was getting so tired but didn't stop, until we saw the city. The city of the giants. We ran in and duck into a room to avoid being seen by the giants. The room turned out to be some kind of treasure room and I saw Jack's eyes almost popping out of his skull. Our eyes met and I saw he was at the brink of deciding to take some or not.

'Take some' I told him. 'The giants probably won't even miss it.'

'What are they going to use gold for?' I thought to myself 'They don't really look like the kind of people that wear gold jewelry or are at the stage in their society of paying for stuff with gold coins. He took some of the golden coins and some sort of goldish looking egg. We went outside and on the other side we saw a giant carrying a cage holding my sister and in the other hand there was Elmont. We ran towards it to enter a kitchen.

Isabelle saw Jack coming around the corner and whispered loudly so he could see her. I quickly entered behind him. We climbed up to where the cage was. It was great to see her without any physical harm done yet.

'I'm so glad you're all right.' I said to her

'What are you even doing here?' she asked me sweetly, as if I was the one needing to be looked after. At least I wasn't stuck in a cage.

'I'm here to help you. Why should you have all the fun' I replied jokingly. We both awkwardly laughed for a bit at my stupid joke as she pointed towards another side of the room.

'Get Elmont.' My sister said to me. And as I looked over I saw Elmont and two pigs rolled in a doughy substance. Before I ran over I wanted to grab my sword to cut him out but realized it was missing from my belt. And then I remembered I left it at the lake. I dropped it after I tried to cut the rope that was holding the trap.

'Jack, your knife, can I borrow it?'

'Where's yours?'

'At the lake. Now please Jack.'

'Of course, here.' He handed his knife and I ran over to Elmont.

'Sarah! Are you all right?' Elmont asked

'Seriously, Elmont, really…, I'm not the one that's about to get baked.'

'I had this, I totally had this.'

'I'm sure you did. But that doesn't stop me from offering to help every once in a while. Now shut up and let me help you' I said jokingly. I cut the dough and handed him the knife. We both smiled at each other, but it was abruptly ended when Elmont saw the giant walking back to us.

'Princess look out.'

I hid behind a jar as I saw Elmont almost being pierced by a giant toothpick, but thank goodness it missed him. I watched as Elmont and the 2 pigs were being dragged over to the oven as Jack was climbing up a rope to get to the giant's knifes. I wanted to go over to the oven but to get there I first had to climb down from where I was now run to the other side of the room and climb up to the oven, without being seen by the giant, in other words 'basically impossible'. Elmont seemed to be doing all right as he was cutting himself out of the dough so I just let him be. I looked over to my sister to go and help her but she was already taken out of her cage and put onto the cutting board by the giant. I saw Jack getting one of the knives and jumping down to stab the giant in the back. It all happened so fast. But the giant stepped back and the knife got jammed further into its back, killing it.

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	6. Chapter 6

We all came together in the middle of the room and I went to embrace my sister and she me.

'Don't ever do something so stupid again.' I said to her

'I promise.' She replied 'I'm so sorry.'

'I know.'

All of a sudden Jack noticed a member of our party missing.

'Where's Crawe?' He asked. I looked over to my sister to see her looking at the ground and over to Elmont who shook his head.

'Oh god' I thought to myself. 'Not Crawe.' And felt myself getting sick to my stomach. I wanted to throw up, I wanted to scream, but I just stood there dead silent, holding my sister even tighter as I felt her feeling of guilt flowing over to me.

Jack quickly ended the silence 'I know the way out of here.' He called and we all went after him.

We all ran out in complete silence until we came to a lake and Jack went to address my sister's wounds. Along the way I wanted to say something to Elmont, I really did, but had no idea what to say. I'm sorry for your loss doesn't even begin to cover it, but saying nothing would probably be way worse.

'I'm sorry for your loss. I know he was your friend'

'He was my best friend for over twenty years.' He said with his head hanging low. I've never really seen Elmont this way, it was absolutely heartbreaking. I wanted to hold him and tell him everything was going to be all right but honestly I didn't even know if that was true.

'Could you help me with something.' He asked me

'Of course, anything.'

'I want to make a grave, for Crawe. We'll need a cross.'

We found some branches and some soft wood that was very easy to bend and good to use as wire to hold it all together. I sat next to Elmont as he spoke some words about Crawe.

'It's a hell of a view, my old friend.' Were his last words about him, after that he went silent. I took his hand and he mine. After a moment he let go and stood up to go to Jack and my sister.

'So which way now Jack?'

'We'll follow the water, that will lead us to the edge.

We came up to the edge and a giant was blocking our way off of Gantua. Jack had the brilliant idea to wake it up by putting a bee's nest into the giant's helmet, which worked. The giant lost his balance and fell of the edge. We ran towards the entrance of the cave, but Elmont stood still behind us.

'Elmont let's go.' I called.

'I'll be down as soon as I can.' Elmont said

'No Elmont we go together.' Sister said

'I'm not going anywhere without that crown.'

'But that's not the mission. 'Find the princess and bring her back'' Jack said

'Than you'll complete the mission. Bring them home. And leave Roderick to me.' Said Elmont

'Then let me help you.' I said with my foolish mouth. With nothing to defend myself with, it was absolutely ridiculous of me to even say it. I just felt it had to be said. Because I did, want to stay.

Elmont just laughed it away. With a slight chuckle he said: 'There isn't the slightest chance that I'm ever going to let you stay.' His remark made me so mad. As if I wasn't capable of doing anything. As if I couldn't help at all. Didn't I just save him from being baked in an oven, and now he has the nerve to make me feel so inadequate. I just walked off to the cavern to wait for Isabelle and Jack to come.

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	7. Chapter 7

Went Isabelle and Jack came into the cave we quickly went down the beanstalk. It didn't take me very long to regret everything I did. Leaving so angry without even saying goodbye, what if something was to happen to Elmont and I'd never see him again. Luckily I had this revelation only a few minutes into climbing down the beanstalk.

'I have to go back up.'

'What. NO!' My sister exclaimed

'Don't worry, I'll be back. I just have to say something to Elmont and then I'll be back.' I said 'You can wait or go further down, but I'm going.'

'Just, be careful, ok?.'

'I will.' And there I went, climbing up again.

I climbed out of the cavern to see Elmont standing in the field with his back to the cavern.

'Elmont?' I called out

'Sarah! What are you doing here? Climb down, please.'

'I will, I promise. But I was so angry when I left and I couldn't climb any further. Promise me you'll be careful.'

'I will, I promise.'

'And promise me you'll come down safely.'

'I can't promise that.'

'But you have to, because I don't know if I can still do all of this if I don't have you by my side.' I felt a tear streaming down my face.

'Do you understand now why I can't let you stay?' Elmont said while wiping away my tear. I pressed my head into his hand. And there we stood for a moment 'Because if something would happen to you, I could never forgive myself. I don't know what I would do without you'

Elmont put his face closer to mine and it looked like he came in for a real kiss, but kissed me on my forehead instead. And I realized right then and there that I may care more for Elmont then I ever knew. I wanted him to kiss me. Maybe I should kiss him then, but maybe I read the signs all wrong and he was never coming in for a real kiss. And if this was his decision I should honor that.

'Now go, and live, and love, and who knows maybe I will come down safely, that is my goal after all.'

'Yes and its well-known that if you set your mind to anything you always end up getting it anyway.' I said with a smile. We both chuckled for a bit. We embraced each other and pulled apart again.

'Go now or Jack and the princess will be too far down to catch up to.'

'You'll have to let go off my hand first.' I said. I raised our hands in between us to keep them up to eyesight to show that he was in fact holding my hand. I don't even think he actually noticed taking it.

'Of course.' He let go off my hand, but in a way he didn't have to. Of course he had to because I couldn't really go anywhere, but I would also have been all right with capturing that moment and living in it for the rest of our lives, but he was right I needed to get down and he needed to rest before taking on Roderick.

I turned and started to walk away but I only took one step when I felt Elmont's strong hand around my arm and pulling me back to him. We came face to face when he looked into my eyes as only he could. And then he kissed me, only for a moment though, then he ended it, he didn't have to, he really didn't. I felt my eyes still closed and my lips still perched. 'What the hell am I supposed to make of this' I thought to myself. As I opened my eyes I saw Elmont standing in front of me but it wasn't the Elmont that I said goodbye to just a moment ago, who wiped away my tear, or the Elmont that just kissed me only a second ago. Elmont was back to having the weight on his shoulders of being the captain of the king's guard, back to being a soldier, a fighter and a man who was very distant from me and that kiss.

'Princess, you need to go, Jack and your sister will be waiting.' He said. Princess. He hasn't called me princess in a while now. It felt weird, princess was a name of high stature, of someone who was above you, not a close friend. It was like me calling my father the king, something I only did when I was mad and tried to create a distance between me and him. Was that what Elmont was trying to do now, to take back his kiss by calling me princess, to make the two of us distant to each other once again, just like we were before, back in Cloister. I was left puzzled but followed the order and went climbing down the beanstalk once again.


	8. Chapter 8

When I came to Isabelle and Jack they were still at the same height as I left them.

'Thank you for not leaving.' I said to my sister and Jack

'We could never.' My sister replied

As we climbed down I kept to myself mostly. Jack and Isabelle were quite jolly to be together and they were right to be. Who knows what is to happen when we touch ground. Father will probably not stand for the romance between the two and they may not ever see each other again.

I just couldn't stop thinking about that kiss. What did it mean; was it one last crazy thing to do before certain death, but it wasn't certain death, he might survive, I don't think he's given up hope, at least he shouldn't and he would never, it's not like him to ever give up hope. Then what was it, it wasn't for show, to show he could kiss a princess. That did happen once before. I went out with a couple of knights to the tavern one night, father would have never allowed it, but the knights would let me tag along. I did see some of those knights as true friends so it was only fair to choose my decision over my father's. After a few pints of ale, which I was never allowed to drink by my father's wishes, I went to stand against the wall and watch the others while they were having fun. The few drinks that I had made me feel quite woozy; I was on the verge of being drunk. Then one of the knights came to stand next to me, one of the new ones. He made some small talk which was nice, which turned into flirting, which wasn't that nice, but I let him continue, because in a way I did quite like this sort of attention, which I wasn't used to. Then he came in for a kiss, I wanted to push him away but was still quite stunned that this had happened so I did nothing for a moment and when I tried to push I didn't really have that much strength in my hands anyhow. But then someone pulled him off of me and threw him on the ground behind him. I just laughed and then I saw it was Elmont who, with a slight shrug said 'Let's go' and took me back to my bed chambers. Turned out he had been lingering in the back of the tavern without being noticed for quite a while but allowed me to have my fun until something went wrong, as it did.

The other knights told me the other day that they made a bet with the knight who kissed me and how they never expected him to actually do it. I forgave them, as they were only trying to have some fun. But that wasn't Elmont's reason to kiss me, it couldn't have been. Besides Elmont would never do such a thing, he's above that. I tried to stop thinking about it and focus on the climbing down. We climbed through the night never stopping until we saw the ground beneath us. I went climbing on when I saw Jack and Isabelle talking above me. I waited for them to come down a few meters below them, when the beanstalk started to shake. They were cutting down the beanstalk! With great speed the beanstalk went crashing down. I was able to climb up a little and Jack handed me Elmont's badge. He signaled to me to cut the vine just beneath me and I did as fast as I could. The vine worked well as a rope and Jack yelled to me 'JUMP' and so I did, and so did they. I was able to land in a haystack and slide through the field, when I stood up I saw Jack and Isabelle did the same. We came together and were grateful to find everyone in one piece. We went over to where the beanstalk once stood from the ground to find father, who was so happy to see his little girls again. But I could only think of Elmont and how he could never come down now, if he even survived thus far. When father asked about Elmont my emotions got the better of me and I had to leave the room. I didn't want people to see my vulnerability; I learned that after mother died.

After a few minutes I went into the tent my father was in and asked if it was all right if I went to the castle.

'Why don't you wait, so we can go together?'

'Father please. I'm so tired, just allow me this.'

'All right sweetheart. You,' he said while pointing to one of the knights 'bring the princess back to the castle.'

'Father I don't need an escort, please let me go on my own.' I said. My father saw the desperation in my eyes and let me go.

I rode my horse faster than ever. Tears streaming down my face. I saw the city of Cloister and the beanstalk that crashed into the city walls. As I rode over the draw bridge I saw him standing there, Elmont! He made it, he was all right.


End file.
